Into the Stretch 1960

Editor: This is Philip Herschel Paradise’s "Into the Stretch" from 1960, a print rendering the dynamism of a horse race. There's an immediate sense of movement, but the muted color palette is interesting. What stands out to you? Curator: What immediately strikes me is how Paradise uses the printmaking process itself to mirror the frantic energy of the race. Note how the ink application seems almost hurried, raw. Does that suggest anything to you about the labor involved, maybe the intention to break from the refined, slick imagery often associated with sporting events and high art printmaking? Editor: I hadn't thought about the actual labor, but it definitely looks rough, like capturing something fleeting. It doesn't seem concerned with precise detail. It challenges the glamour around these races, maybe? Curator: Exactly! The choice of print as a medium also has implications. Prints are inherently reproducible. What does this mass-producible aspect of the medium bring to your understanding of the cultural status and value of “high society” sporting events at the time? Could this work be an example of cultural democratisation of a pastime exclusive to a select elite of society? Editor: I guess I see it now. Mass production creates an interesting commentary, considering the subject of the painting itself relates to exclusive wealth and cultural capital of high society. Curator: Consider, also, the blurring between figuration and abstraction. By foregoing detailed, clear representation, Paradise places the emphasis on motion, chaos, and force. It asks what is more essential to the act, to the representation itself, what makes the work… “Into the Stretch.” Editor: So it's not just *what* is depicted, but *how* the materials and process contribute to the message itself. I'll definitely be paying closer attention to the “how” in future works I study!